Lifting to New Levels

Broad question: Which brand of hair bleach causes the most damage?

Specific question: Which brand of hair bleach will cause the highest percentage of cuticle flaking, Splat, Salon Care, or Clairol?

Variables

Independent Variables: Clairol Born Blonde, Splat, Salon Care.

Dependent Variable:Human Hair Extensions, Tint Brushes, Tint Bowl, Aluminum foil, Microscope, Camera, Time.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
The color of the hair will be affected by the bleach. When the bleach penetrates the cortex it will lift the cuticles, causing a change in the hairs structure as well.

Hypothesis: I predict that the Salon Care hair bleach will cause the most amount of damage, due to the fact that it has ingredients that can be a toxin if used improperly. I predict Splat will give the safest results because it contains ingredients that are a lower concern if used improperly, however it may be the most drying. I predict Clairol will give the least amount of damage, leave hair soft and shiny, because it is very conditioning and not as harsh as the other bleaches. Clairol will most likely leave hair the darkest as well.

Graph of Hypothesis:

Percent of Damage:
Brand of Bleach:	Before	After
Splat	9.87	12.5
Clairol	9.87	10.75
Salon Care	9.87	13.5

General Plan

During this experiment I will be working in an open, well lighted area where all the materials are gathered. Water and towels will be easily available. I will be preforming this experiment solo to bleach the hair extensions, Mr. Biche will help with getting reliable photos through a microscope. Only one successful trial will be needed to gather reliable data as long as nothing goes wrong during the bleaching, storing, and collecting data. During my experiment I will be recording data onto a printed out chart. During the bleaching process the only thing I will be keeping track of is the time. The amount of damage will be recorded the next day. In order to find out the total percentage of damage I will record the amount of cuticle scales per about every twentieth millimeter. I will do this in fifteen different spots on five different hair shafts per each brand. I will take the average amount of scales in total and the average amount raised scales before bleaching. Using a fraction method I will figure out the percent of raised cuticles before. Estimated if there is an average amount of two raised cuticles out of twenty scales that would mean that 10% are raised. If after the bleaching five out of twenty are raised that would mean that 25% are raised. This would mean that the hair has been 15% damaged by the bleach job.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

If Any of the bleach contacts the skin or eyes it can lead to infections, rashes, poisoning the blood stream, illness, or cancer. If Bleach gets in eyes, flush out with water. If bleach contacts skin, wipe off with towel or paper towel. If allergic reaction occurs, contact doctor. Bleaching must be preformed in open area to avoid breathing in the fumes.

Experimental Design

Materials:
Dark brown human hair extensions,
Salon Care 30 volume crème developer,
Salon Care prism lights dust free lightener blue,
Splat Splatoxide,
Splat powder,
Born Blonde Maxi liquid lightener,
Born Blonde crème developer,
Born Blonde lightening powder,
Tin foil (Reynolds),
Sally Tint brush,
Sally Mixing bowl, with teeth,
Measuring cup, ounces.
Microscope,
Camera,
Stopwatch or timer,
Tri-fold poster board,
display board.

Procedure: (measure approximate)
Gather Materials,

Cut hair off from pre-woven extension in three one- inch sections,
Observe closely under microscope, document,
Pour Born Blonde crème in mixing bowl bowl,
Mix developer, powder and liquid lightener in mixing bowl,
Apply .75 ounce of mixture to one extension using tint brush,
Wrap in tin foil and wait 30 minutes without heat, 30 minutes with heat,
Rinse, blow dry,
Repeat three to seven with Splat and Salon Care.
Observe under microscope, record cuticle flaking,
Conclude your experiment.

(There must be a total of .75oz of mixture applied to extension for each brand.)

Background Research

Sources:
Karpelenia, Jenny. Acids and Bases. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2006. Print.
www.haircrazy.info
www.wikipedia.com/hairpigment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide
www.wikipedia.com/haircolor
www.wikipedia/cuticlehair
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphoric_acid
www.hairdressersus.com
www.exploratorium.edu
www.dermatology.about.com
www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov
www.follicle.com
www.enotes.com
www.kidshealth.org
www.raysahelian.com
www.bsapp.com
www.vrg.org
www.chemlabs.uoregon.edu
www.cosmeticinfo.org
www.chemicalland21.com
www.hazmap.nlm.nih.gov
www.nautral-skincare-authority.com
www.cvs.com
www.riteaid.com
www.splathaircolor.com
www.clairol.com
www.sallybeautysupply.com
The structure of the hair is very important to learn about before dying or bleaching. I have done extensive in-depth research about the structure of the hair and the root of the hair. First most important fact to know is how hair is produced. The organ that produces hair is called the follicle. The hairs follicle is not visible, it is a skin organ which produces hair (keratin). The anagen phase is the active growth phase of hair from the follicle which lasts two to seven years. The catagen phase is the end of the active growth of hair. This lasts 2-3 weeks while the hair converts to a club hair. The telogen phase is when the club hair enters a phase of rest, the hair then falls out within 2-4 months. Most people lose 50-100 hairs per day.

A hairs root is The part of the hair that is embedded in the hairs follicle. Although the term root is used to describe hair re-growth, roots are not visible. As the follicle produces hair, old hair that has already been produced gets pushed out by the new hair.
Anouther important part of the hair is the sebaceous glands. This is a gland that produces a substance called sebum, which keeps the skin and hair moisturized. During adolescence sebaceous glands enlarge and produce more sebum under the influence of hormones called androgens. Overtime production decreases, making hair and skin dryer.

Pigment is the hairs natural color present in the cortex. Blond hair has little to no pigment. White hair is actually clear, due to no pigment at all. Black hair is generally the thickist type, with the most pigment.
The reason why people feel no pain when hair is cut is because it is not a living thing. Hair develops in the follicle, the hair that the follicle produces is the root of the hair. Once the hair has been created it is pushed out by even more hair being produced. The protein that hair is made of is called keratin.

There are many parts to hair shaft however, the three that get effected the most by hair dye are the cuticle, the cortex, and pigment (hairs natural color). In order for the dye to penetrate the cortex it must go through it’s protective barrier called the cuticle. Hydrogen peroxide lifts up the cuticle by making it soften and expand. Since the cuticle is flat layers the dye must raise the cuticle for it to reach the cortex.
An important thing to know next is the ingredients in the hair bleaches i will be using.

The Salon Care 30 volume creme developer contains Water, hydrogen peroxide, cetearyl alcohol, ceteareth-20, cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, phosphoric acid, tetrasodium edta, and etidronic acid.
The Salon Care Prisium Lites dust free powder lightener i will be using in neautral. This contains magnesium stearate, ammonium persulfate, silica, hydrolyzed collagen, tetrasodium EDTA, xanthan gum, hydrated silica, sodium silicate, algin, ultramarines, red 30 lake, yellow 10 lake, yellow 5 lake, and fragrance.

The Splat lightening powder i will be using contains Ammonium persulfate, cellulose gum, EDTA, hydrolyzed wheat protein, kaolin, magnesium carbonate hydroxide, potassium persulfate, silica, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium metasilicate, and ultramarine blue.
The Splat developer (splatoxide) i will be using only contains Deionized water and hydrogen peroxide.

The Clairol Lightening powder i will be using contains Potassium persulfate, sodium silicate, ammonium persulfate, silica, sodium lauryl sulfate, disodium EDTA, and ultramarines.
The Clairol Developing crème i will be using contains water, hydrogen peroxide, cetearyl alcohol, laureth-23, steareth-21, ceteareth-20, polyquaternium-37, propylene glycol dicprylate, styrene, PPG-1 trideceth-6, and Etidronic acid.
The Clairol Liquid Lightener i will be using contains oleic acid, olenth-2, water, propylene glycol, ethanolamine, isopropyl alcohol, soytrumonium chloride, ethoxydigylcol, C12-15 pareth-3, hexylene clycol, ammonium hydroxide, fragrance, erythorbic acid, sodium sulfate, and EDTA.

So what are different chemicals are designed to do to your hair?
Hydrogen peroxide is one of the main ingredients in most developers. It’s Job is to open the hairs cuticle to allow hair color to penetrate the cortex. Cetearyl Alcohol is A foam boosting agent. Ceteareth-20 Can contain potentially toxic impurities. It is a cleansing agent that alters skin structure, allowing the chemical to soak deeper into the skin. This could also possibly run into the blood stream. Cetyl alcohol is a foam boosting agent, and fragrance ingredient. This organic chemical can come from plant or animal origin. The CIR expert panel evaluated this chemical and concluded that it is safe for cosmetic use. This can also be reconized as CH3(CH2)15OH.

Magnesium stearate is used as a filling agent that helps the product not stick to machinery. This prevents separation of liquid and oils and increases the thickness of the finished product. Stearic acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid of animal origin or coconut fat. This is used as a surfactant cleansing agent and a surfactant emulsifying agent. Ammonium persulfate is used as a lightener, it oxidizes the colors present in the hair shaft. Silica is used as an absorbent and anti caking agent, this can also be found in packets to keep food freash.

Hydrolyzed collagen enhances the appearance and feel of hair by increasing the body, suppleness or sheen. This may even improve the texture of damaged hair from excessive treatment. Tetrasodium EDTA is used to inactivate metal ions, maintain clarity, protect fragrance compounds, and prevent rancidity. Xanthan gum is used to increase the thickness of powder lightener, also reconized as C10H12N2O8NA4.4H2O. Hydrated silica is used as an ant caking agent.

Sodium silicate is used to control the pH of the hairs cuticle. This is a very important ingredient because it protects the hair from extreme damage. Glyceryl alginate can be used as a viscosity increasing agent. Ultramarines is used to impart color.
Red 30 lake is used to color hair dye or to eliminate yellow tones when bleaching. Yellow 10 lake and yellow 5 lake are used to color hair dye or to impart color. Fragrance can be used to mask the odor of another ingredient. Phosphoric acid is also used to control the pH of hair, a high acid substance. However it can be toxic or harmful as it is an inorganic acid. Editronic acid is generally A chelating agent. It also can be used as a peroxide stabilizer and dye fixing agent.
Red= Potentially toxic or cancerous chemical.

Photo List

the hair's cuticle represents a tree and it's bark. the cuticle is layerd like scales or bark are. the cortex is where color is present, needs to be striped from, or needs to get to. The Bleach must weave it's way into the cortex. There The ammonium persulfate will oxidize and impart the pigment of the hair.

The follice is where hair is produced, the sebaceous glands produce sebum which moistureizes the hair and skin.

This is what hair looks like in it's healthy condition.

This is a case of striped cortex, it causes the hair to become very weak and overtime it will break. The cortex is very stringy and can split into smaller strands.

This piece if hair has a severe split end. when a hair splits it continues to split till it has split at the begining of the hair, therefore it must immidatly be cut off.

This is extreme damage, the worst kind. the hair has split in the middle and when this happens the hair breaks off and is very fragile.

Results

Data Table

Percent of damage:
Brand of Bleach:	Before	After
Splat	9.87	4.46
Clairol	9.87	1.26
Salon Care	9.87	2.40

Graphs

Photos

Preforming experiment

Splat

Clairol

Salon Care

Hair after bleaching.

Before

This image perfectly shows the raised cuticle layer of the hair.
In this image the hair has it's pigment before bleaching.
The Bleach had to go under the cuticle to weave it's way into
the cortex. There the pigment was imparted and oxidized by
ammonium persulfate.

Splat

Salon Care

Clairol Born Blonde

Data Analysis

Conclusion

My origional hypothesis was that Salon Care hair bleach would be the most damaging. Clairol the least. Through my experiment i discoverd somthing skocking. Bleaching actually improves the condition of the hairs cuticle. However it can cause lots of damage to the hairs cortex as i assumed would happen. Bleach makes it more porus so it must be dyed semi- often to keep it thick and strong. Bleaching also changed the texture of the hair extensions.

My experiment went smoothly as i got great results. The bleach that caused the least amount of damage was Clairol Born Blonde. This bleach kept the hair well conditioned and thick. The hair also kept close to the same texture after the bleaching. Clairol even looks the most nautral! The bleach itself was the lightest blue tint yet managed to remove the red tones in the hair best. This does support my hypothesis.

Salon Care delivered average results from a bleach. This bleach was very hard to use because it is extremely thick and hard to spread. It also did not lighten the hair as much as the other bleaches did. The reason why is because it was a much darker blue color which does not lighten hair very well. Salon Care left hair with a reasonable texture yet different from the origional. It also did not leave as much damage i predicted.

Splat gave horrible results. The bleach had a nice color to it yet left the hair in an aweful condition. The hair was lift very dry and brittle. The texture is similar to hay. The bleach also did not get rid of red tones in the hair, leaving it a very ginger, apricot color. Although it has the safest ingredients it is the harshist bleach. The good thing to come from this bleach is that it lightened the hair best.

In conclusion Clairol is by far the best brand of bleach leaving hair the softist, shinyist, and in the best condition. Splat is the most damaging leaving hair coarse, breakable, and dull. Salon care is actually not a bad bleach but is hard to use. An interisting future study would be to figure out what chemical puts the cuticle in such good condition. In the end my hypothesis did not support my conclusion, however great results came from the experiment.

Discussion

Benefit to Community and/or Science

When choosing the right type of bleach for your hair, you can avoid much unnecessary damage.

Knowing the proper ways to bleach your hair, you can get the best possible results.

Never let the bleach contact skin, scalp, or hands.
Gloves must be worn while bleaching.
Bleaching must be preformed in open area, opening windows is advised.
Make sure mixture is smooth and creamy, chunky mixture is very damaging.
Weak hair types can avoid much damage by pouring conditioner in the mixture.
Applying with a tint brush evenly coats the hair.
Never condition hair before bleaching or dying.

How to stay safe. Bleaching hair can be very risky if not done properly. The reason why it is extremely un-safe for bleach to contact skin is simple. Most bleaches contain cteareth-20, this alters the skins structure and hairs structure alowing the chemical to sink deeper in. If those harsh chemicals reach the blood stream they can cause cancer to form. Wearing gloves and wraping a towel around your neck can help avoid this. Applying Bleach with a tint brush can get the dye close to, but not touching the scalp.

Bleaching in an open area is advised. Breathing in the chemicals can damage brain cells and irritate the eyes. If your bathroom is too small, do not worry. Bleaching can be preformed anywhere. A kitchen is usally a good idea because they are open and often have vents, and water is easily available.

Once you have bleached your hair, how exactly do you keep it in good condition? Well, with bleaching you never have to worry about the color staying. Bleach is permanent. However many people have hair with red tones and tints. This causes bleach to often turn reddish-orange. These colors can be counter acted by using a toner. A toner is a light purple dye which covers yellow tones. Toner is perfect for creating platinum blonde hair.
Once your hair is the color you like there are a few simple rules to follow. The most important is to avoid bleaching it again unless completely nessary. Avoid washing your hair everyday. Doing so washes away sebum, which is extremely important for bleached hair to return to a semi-normal state. Olive and coconut oil is extremely good for hair, These oils leave hair soft, sleek, and shiny. If your hair gets damaged from bleaching, pouring white distilled vinegar can help seal and harden the cuticle. This will help your hair achive a balenced pH and make it stronger.